


Rhythm Of The Storm

by partyaminal



Series: Rhythm Of The Storm [1]
Category: Tooth and Tail (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Gen, Soldiers, War, Weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-18 22:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15495579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partyaminal/pseuds/partyaminal
Summary: This story is basically a fanfiction about a human soldier who served during the Vietnam War and shows signs of PTSD and through a weird turn of events, ended up in the world of Tooth And Tail and is trying to find his way back to his own world.Will he manage to get home? will he become a permanent resident? or will he die? find out later....





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted to my DA account before I decided it was best to bring it here and start doing more original works over on DA.
> 
> Though, I will still being posting the story over there just to finish what I started.
> 
> In other words. Fanfiction here. Original works DA.

I couldn't believe it, I just can't....

"CORPORAL!"

I turned my head to see my brother yelling at me, but it was like he was a million miles away. Am I still standing? yeah, yeah I'm still standing. The bullet must not have hit anything important, I think. My vision...it's not blurry, that's good...right? It hurts but I can still stand, maybe that means that I can move to.

"CORPORAL!!" the commanding officer repeated.

"I hear you bro, I'll be there, just give me a second, need to get my bearing straight" I yelled back.

I felt my left leg move forward and then stop. I'm moving! don't worry bro, I'm coming, slowly, but I'm coming!

The Vietcong were firing their machineguns relentlessly, they are out for blood and corporal, you're their target, so you better start moving faster.

"RAY!!!" the officer repeated one last time. "He's walking into the opening! he'll be killed for sure!" screamed one of the snipers in Commanding officer Albert Shotwell's platoon. Albert took a glance across the clearing and saw the Vietcong firing their guns with eyes filled with fire and the heart to kill. "GET DOWN" the sniper screamed to Ray, but it was no good, the corporal couldn't hear him.

Albert took one last glance at the shooters and realized that they were firing behind his younger brother, thinking that he's still over there.

Ray kept walking towards his brother and his fellow platoon members. "just keep moving Ray, your friends are dead, their bodies are laying in the clearing, but you're still alive! just keep moving, that's it! one foot in front of the other" the corporal thought to himself.

"Shit" the commanding officer said under his breath as he dropped to his belly and quickly crawled his way to his younger brother, using the bushes as cover. The officer managed to reach his brother and quickly pulled him down to his knees before wrapping his arm around his brothers chest, grabbing hold of the shirt pocket, and began to drag him over to the rest of the platoon on his back.

Slowly the brothers made it back to the platoon. The medic in the platoon quickly took hold of Ray and began to patch his wound with what little he had. "Is he alright?" Albert asked, the medic used his combat knife to pull out the bullet that was in his chest and then applied some antibiotics onto the wound and then answered "This will slow down the bleeding, but if we don't get to a mash unit fast, then I'm afraid that he'll bleed out soon".

The commanding officer was quick to shout "OK MEN, RETREAT!!!"

It wasn't long before the platoon quickly snuck back into the woods. After a couple of minutes, the platoon reached another clearing with a couple of helicopters dropping more soldiers off, they quickly stood upright and began to run towards the helicopters screaming for help at the top of their lungs, especially Albert who had Ray over his shoulder.

They managed to reach the helicopters just in the nick of time. It also wasn't long before the Vietcong emerged from the woods and another fire fight began. Ray was quickly loaded onto the helicopter as it began to take off, leaving Albert, the platoon and the other soldiers on their own to fight the gorilla fighters.

Once the helicopter reached the nearest mash unit, Ray was quickly loaded off of the helicopter by the pilot and the units doctors and taken to the O.R.

About four hours later....

Ray slowly woke up in a hospital bed and began to sit up, only to have a nurse quickly rush over to him and gently placed him back on his back. Ray looked around then quickly asked in a confused and terrified tone of voice "where, WHERE'S MY PLATOON! MY BROTHER!!", a doctor quickly rushed over to Ray and began to explain what happened after he calmed him down.

"Your in mash unit #291, your commanding officer brought you to a helicopter just as the Vietcong attacked them", these words hit me like a ton of bricks, I asked "well....are they alright?" the doctor turned to the nurse who in turned looked back at me. I understood. The doctor continued "we were given orders to send you back when you're fully healed, so spend this time wisely"

The doctor and nurse left me so they could go to another patient and check his pulse. I couldn't think of anything to do but lay back down and try not to wonder what tomorrow will bring.

About an hour later....

A man in a brown business suite walked into the room where the beds were with a clipboard and a pen. He talked to the doctors and then the nurses, then he walked over to the patients and talked to them about something Ray couldn't make out, but from what he saw, the man must have said something good because some of the patients started writing on the paper on the clipboard. The man walked over to Ray and in a polite tone of voice said "hello good sir"

Oh god....this doesn't sound good

The man continued "my name is Professor Argon King and I believe that we might be able to make a deal". I arched my right eyebrow and asked "what deal?" then followed up "I going to be sent back to the front in possibly two days". The man cleared his throat before continuing "so I've heard, but that's not what I'm here, I'm here to see if you will be willing to volunteer for a scientific experiment"  
"Experiment?" I asked.  
He nodded his head and continued "this experiment is hypothesized to help win this war". I like the sound of this. "The experiment is simple, me and my fellow professors are convinced that teleporting U.S. soldiers behind enemy lines will catch the Vietcong off guard and cause a chokehold around them, causing them to spend more recourses to fight two fronts". BEHIND ENEMY LINES!, I quickly sat up right on the bed and asked "so you send us behind enemy lines, great! but how are you planning to bring us back?"

Professor King smirked and said "well...that's what science is for right? to figure out and exploit the inevitable". I really want to smack this guy. "The Experiment is scheduled to begin in four days", he hands Ray the clipboard and pen and then continued "if you choose to sign your name on the paper, you are agreeing on participating in the experiment along with five of your fellow soldiers". Ray read the paper, making sure to read the fine print was something his dad had always taught him to do.

 

"Hello, if you are reading this, then you may be interested in participating in a scientific experiment that will help win the war!  
The experiment you will be taking a part in (if you should sign this paper)  
is called Project: Chronos which is being held in Fort Dawson in Tokyo, Japan  
The experiment will go as followed:  
1: up to no more than six soldiers are allowed.  
2: soldiers will be teleported behind enemy lines.  
3: Should soldiers survive being teleported behind enemy lines, please look at benefits.  
Benefits:  
1: free one month vacation to any location of your choosing  
2: a grant of up to possibly $100,000  
3: your servitude to the U.S. will be fulfilled and you will be given a permanent leave!"

Your Name:_____________________________  
Date of Birth:__________

You then look at the other names that were written down on the previous papers.  
Arnold Guff  
Jimmy Church  
Alice Barr  
Nicole Miller  
Guy Owen

After letting out a sigh "well....I'm going to die anyway", I wrote my name down on the paper and handed it to the Professor King. He smiled and said his good days and goodbyes and left the room. After a brief moment of silence, I laid back down on the bed and started questioning why I signed the papers.

Four days later.....

I arrived in Tokyo by plane and not a moment after walking out of the terminal, I was greeted by a Japanese man holding a sign that read "limo for Raymond Solomon Shotwell". I don't even know what to say about this, so I'll just get in the limo.

The chauffeur quickly got into the limo as soon as I did and began to drive off. I swear I heard the tires screech when we left the terminal. Well after about...probably half an hour, we arrived at Fort Dawson. And just as quickly he got in, he quickly got out and opened the door for me, I was just about ready to ask the man how much does he want for ransom but was quickly greeted by Professor King and about two other people, probably assistants.

Apparently, I was the last to show up but to be honest, I rather be here than back at that hellhole in the jungle. The professors, or whatever the other two are, began to escort me to this giant brass door with a cement outside, to be honest, I think it's a bunker, it would explain all the stairs that lead downward.

When we finally got to the bottom steps, I saw a iron door that slid open and saw the others that signed up for this. I was escorted to where they were standing, and then a lecture about how great soldiers we are and blah, blah, blah, you probably heard these lectures before.

Probably half way through the lecture, I started to feel fear, dread and self doubt irradiating off the others and myself. I started to become even more scared, but then I felt...safe....then I heard my brothers voice telling me not to worry. I quickly turned my head over to the left where a bunch of consoles and control panels were, then it turned to the right and saw these....big...metal...things with what looked like beds standing upright.

The man giving the lecture finished and then we were escorted towards the big metal things. The more I got closer, the more that these things started to resemble coffins, just not made of wood.

I was placed in one numbered "2" by the way.

After putting me in this thing, they didn't eve bother strapping me in or anything! maybe that's a good thing?

After what felt like hours, days even! the sound of something rotating caught my attention, then there was a loud voice counting down. 10...9...8...7.  
Dear god can you go any slower! 6...5...4... This is it isn't it? 3...2...certain death? no help? whatever...lets get this over with. 1!

Then everything stopped. no voices, no fear, nothing but calmness. Am I dead?

I...heard...birds chirping? I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted by four trees standing across from one another and the sun in the center beating down on me. I quickly jumped back up to my feet and was ready for an ambush, not that I was expecting it, but hey, it's war. I slowly turned my head to examine the area and notice two things.

1: I was alone, no one was around, not the other five soldiers, not the Vietcong, no one. and 2: the leafs on the trees were orange, yellow, and red, not green. This is not Vietnam.

I then spotted a creek and decided to walked over towards it.

I took a look at my reflection. I noticed that my helmet still had the words "NO NAM" written on it in black paint, my green shirt still had that bullet hole on it, my green jeans were showing signs of wear and tear (thankfully it's just around the knees), and my boots are also showing signs of wear and tare. My blue eyes reflect off this creek beautifully, would be funny if I grew a beard, I could totally rock a beard.

I'm alive alright, but where is everybody? did they already start looking for a nearby town? maybe I can catch up to them if I hurry! but which way?

I suddenly smelled fresh bread, that must mean they're not far from me! I should get going.

Ray followed the smell to a nearby village but stopped at the outskirts of the town and took a big whiff, the smell of bread smelled heavenly. But he also smelled smoke...and gun powder?

*BANG*, the sound of a hollow point being fired from a sniper rifle broke Ray's train of thought.

I jumped back a little and thought "my god...what the hell did I get myself into", guess I'm not getting that $100,000, am I.


	2. Unwelcomed Soldier

I'm sneaking around the village looking for food and I'm hearing gun fire and...explosions? dear god, I just traded one war in for another!, the town is not yet destroyed, but I haven't seen the center or the other side of town. I better find some food fast or I might find another bullet inside me!

"CORPORAL SHOTWELL!" screamed a familiar voice.

"Jacobs?" I asked with tone that's a mix of fear and confusion, I can't believe it, Jacobs here? but the doctor said they were dead! there's no way Jacobs can be alive and here, what the hell is going on?

"Corporal! over here! in the building across the street!" screamed Jacobs. Ok, either I'm going crazy or I should listen to him. just as I was pondering as to what to do, the sound of a artillery fire from somewhere close by made me say "there better be some beer in there Jacobs!" and ran across the street and dived through one of the broken front windows and landed on my right side.

I quickly got back up to my feet and started to look for a place to take cover, but unfortunately, the only form of cover was a couple of dinning tables that were knocked over. So the building I just dived into is a restaurant of sorts. There were the already stated knocked over dinning tables, a counter with a register on top of it and a broken glass case that appears to have been welded onto the left-hand side of the counter with what looks like cakes and pies, to the far right hand side of the counter was a door that read "employees only".

I walked over to the broken case and started to look at the cakes and pies, they look like they are safe to eat, no mold or anything is showing. I started to eat the food and while it was delicious, it was not filling.

The sound of somebody being startled and what sounded like a woman going "shhhh" from behind the door that read "employees only" caught Ray's attention and caused him to stop eating the desserts and walk over towards the door and with a nervous sigh, he knocked on the door.

There was a pause before the sound of somebody loading a shotgun was heard and the sound of a man yelling "who's there!?!" in a gruff tone of voice.

I paused for a moment before sliding towards the left-hand side of the door, with my back against the wall, before knocking again with my left hand. "Who's there?!! I said" came the voice of a pissed of man. I said "someone who's lost and needs help!, can you help me?".

There was a long pause, one that made Ray uncomfortable.

And then the voice said angrily "HELP YOU?! why would I help you?", I quickly answered "because I'm lost, hungry, and kind of scared and confused". And just as quickly as I answered, I heard the man say something like "I'll feed you something" before kicking the door open and firing from his shotgun. A taller, heavy looking boar popped it's head out to look for whoever was talking to him only to turn it's head left and saw me with my back up against the wall looking at him with a terrified look on my face.

The feeling of shock and surprise was mutual between us.

He quickly jumped out of the door way and reload his shotgun, but I quickly tackled his legs, causing him to fall down and drop his gun. And once that happened, I quickly got up and grabbed the gun and pointed it at him.

He raised his arms up and slowly got back up to his feet, this is an awkward image, a six foot tall human with a shotgun is having a boar that has to be at least seven feet tall with human like hands held up against a wall. He's wearing some kind of Korean military uniform and is holding a terrified look on his face.

The boar slowly walked back into the room from where he came from with me following him to make sure he doesn't pull out another gun and shoot me in the back. As soon as we entered the room, one of the first things I noticed was that this was a storage room filled with all sorts of food and bottles of water on shelves. The other thing that I noticed was that there was a smaller female lynx in a fifties style dress was sitting on the left-hand corner of the floor with a female child lynx in a fifties style dress holding onto the older lynx and staring at me with eyes full of fear.

My god...

I'm scared, hungry, and lost, and here I am holding a family hostage.

The boar slowly sat down next to the lynx, which at this point, I figured that that's his wife and child. I need to figure out what to do and what to say fast, but the sound of artillery firing isn't helping me at all. I think the artillery is getting closer!

Just then, I thought I heard my brother say in my ear "DON'T SHOOT RAY!, they're already scared enough, the last thing any of us want to see is a family getting murdered in cold blood". 

I lowered the gun and placed to my right side. I feel the ground and the whole building shake as another artillery shell hits somewhere close by but I'm more focused on the family in front of me. I let out a loud sigh before asking "so...can you help or..." I pointed back at the front entrance and continued "are you going to leave me in the dark?"

The boar looked at me with a confused look before asking "but...aren't you KSR?"  
"Who's KSR?" I asked back, this question seemed to have shocked not just the boar but also the older lynx, because as soon as I said that, they both turned to look at each other before turning there attention back to me.

"Did I say something offensive?" I asked with a confused look on my face. The boar tried to find a better sitting position before answering "no, it's just....you're wearing green and you look like their type", I'll pretend that he means what he mean when he said "looks like their type"

I sighed again before saying "yeah, I'm wearing green, but what does that have to do with this...KSR?".  
This time, the older lynx spoke up. "Well.....green is normally a color that they wear when they go into battle", I still don't get it.  
My confusion was becoming more and more present, because the next thing I knew, the lynx then asked what species am I, how do I answered that? guess I'll make something up. "Not a native species", that was literally all I got, but it seemed to have worked.

I leaned myself against one of the shelves. And just as I did, a artillery shell went off nearby and spooked the little lynx, I turned back towards the door and asked "so...what's with the explosions and gunfire?"

The boar spoke again, "it's this blasted war that's been destroying our once great nation for almost half a year now!". War?, I asked about the war, well more specifically, what started this war. The boar answered "it all started when there was a meat shortage awhile back", over food...why did I not think of that?

But the boar continued "after the meat shortage started happening, the church or as they're better known as, The Civilized, came up with something that would help us with our meat shortage and the Harvest became part of our daily lives" The Harvest?!?

"Then that blasted aristocrat had to declare war on the church because his son got sacrificed in order to feed the people" he continued. "Sounds personal" I said, "because it IS personal, us working class get our friends and family killed to feed everyone and we're unable to do or say anything about it, but when some rich asshole's kid gets gutted then all of a sudden it's considered an atrocity and everyone in their mother should go to war over the death of HIS kid instead of the countless deaths OUR kids!!!"

I couldn't think of anything to say afterwards. But his wife did, "Harold, calm down, your scaring Anna", the boar sighed and apologized.

After what felt like a long pause, I asked "who are the warring armies?". The boar calmly spoke up "there's the Longcoats, they're lead by Bellafide, the rich guy I talked about earlier. Then there's the Civilized, they're lead by they're "pope" called Archimedes, the other two warring factions are the Commonfolk and the KSR"

"Commonfolk?" I said as I was staring at the couple. "Not us" said the older lynx as she rubbed her daughters head before continuing "they're a bunch of rag-tag misfits being lead by Hopper".   
"Hopper?" I said in a confused tone of voice.  
"She's a drunk loon who cut her arm off to feed some people, and while I commend her for doing that, it doesn't mean that she's leader worthy" Harold said.  
I rubbed my chin before commenting "in all fairness...I would need a drink to if I'm going into a warzone", the boar nodded his head in agreement.

"And what of this...KSR" I asked, the lynx sighed before answering "they are some secret police force, but mark my words, they are more of an army than a police force".  
"Not a fan of them either I take it?", she continued "they're not bad...they have been trying to put an end to this war with little success mind you, but everyone's more afraid of them then in support of them". I turned my head over towards Harold, wanting to hear what he had to say "it's not that no one supports them, it's just....no one knows who side they are on".  
"Side?" I repeated. "Yes, the Longcoats are allies with the Commonfolk and everyone's pretty sure no one is allied with the Civilized but that's where the KSR come in, you see. That's why not a lot of people support them".

I continued to rub my chin before asking "and who's in charge of this...police force?"

The couple turned to look at each other and then back to me. The lynx answered "well...no one knows", well at least she's honest. Harold spoke "the only leader I've notice so far is this rat wearing an eye patch, she seems to know where to get weapons and troops and she seems to lead them into battle", "so...a Quartermaster" I said and the couple agreed with me.

That's funny. I never heard of quartermasters leading troops into battles before, getting supplies and stuff yes, but battles?, no.

Another artillery shell exploded nearby causing the building to shake violently. As interesting as it is to learn about the factions and the war and such, but I think it's better to find a way out of this town.

"Look...as interesting as all this is...I think it's about time I hit the road", I unloaded the shotgun before tossing it back at the boar. I also took a couple loafs of bread before running out of the building and resume sneaking around the town.

I felt bad about leaving that odd animal family behind, but I can't start worrying about others right now, I need to worry about myself and figure out how I managed to get myself trapped in a weird fairytale land full of cannibalistic animals and how do I get home before I end up on the dinner menu.


	3. Flight Out Of Town

I think I'm at the center of town. The sight of crumbling buildings, a nearly destroyed church, and some mangled and disemboweled bodies made me believe that the battle might be over.

'BAM!'

Maybe not.

The sound of artillery sounds farther away. I may have some time to poke around, I need to find a weapon and maybe some money as well.

These animals, these soldiers, most of them are wearing yellow...lets see, KSR is green, so...who's yellow? Longcoats?, Commonfolk?, wait! why am I trying to make sense of this? I need to find a weapon! I can figure this color situation out later. Lots of...squirrels and...frog legs everywhere though.

I quickly started to search the closes dead body, I might be disrespecting the dead, but I need to survive. Lets see...wolf, male, a megaphone? I don't need that! semi-automatic pistol? hell yeah! I took the pistol and a couple clips out of the corpse's pockets. I then pulled out a wallet...I quickly opened it and a photograph fell out.

I slowly picked the photo up. It showed a large male wolf standing besides a female wolf with a smaller wolf standing in-between the two. I looked back at the corpse before putting the photo back into the wallet and put it back into the corpse's jacket pocket.

I was about to loot the next corpse when I heard the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere near the church. And being the dumbass that I am, and armed with my new pistol, I quietly followed the footsteps as they went behind the church.

As I got closer to the back end of the church, the footsteps stopped and I heard panting, I leaned against the wall getting ready to jump around the corner but doubt was starting to take over my mind. What if whoever is behind this corner is better armed and well trained? what if there's more than one person around this corner? is killing whoever's around the corner really worth making enemies with whatever group they're with?

Needless to say, I chickened out and ran back up the side of the church and across a street. I must have caught the person(s) attention because I started to hear footsteps following me! oh shit! what do I do? are they armed and dangerous? are they friendly? I don't know but I ain't looking back!

I spotted a alleyway to my right as I was running, and taking my chances, I made a sharp right turn and ran into the alleyway. I then stopped about a good 10 feet into the alleyway and spotted another opening to my left and ran down it, the footsteps were still following me! I must have ran another 20 feet before taking another left turn and then a right turn. I then noticed that I was coming up to a dead end, but there was a door on the right hand side of the wall, so I...broke the door down and ran inside.

I ran across...what I guess is the living room and into a kitchen. I quickly scurried around the room looking for an exit, while simultaneously looking over my shoulders, hoping that whoever or whatever is or was behind me stopped following me. Lets see...there's a window above the counter, a door that I opened and found out that it was nothing but a broom closet, and then there's the way I came in. I don't know how high up off the ground the window is...but it will have to do.

I opened the window and got on top of the counter. I sat down on the counter and inched my way out the window feet first until I was hanging outside of the house. Unaware as of how high off the ground I was, I looked downed, my greatest mistake. Apparently I'm about three stories off the ground, with a dumpster under me, and a rain gutter going down right next to me on my left.

I decided that I rather ride the gutter down instead of falling. So, I latched onto the gutter and slowly inched my way down, not looking down of course. It wasn't long before I heard something snap and felt the thing shake, I looked up and saw that the part connecting the gutter to the roof starting to hang loose. Needless to say, I was moving down the gutter faster.

As I got closer to the ground, I heard one final snap before I felt the gutter starting to lean sideways. And with a loud scream and closed eyes, I came crashing to the ground, but....I didn't land on the hard cobblestone ground, I landed on top of something else....I opened my eyes and slowly looked down on what I landed on.

Apparently, I landed on Harold the boar from the restaurant. And if Harold's here...then that means the two lynxes are not far either.

And I was right, because the next thing I knew, both lynxes came running around a corner and saw me laid out on top of the boars back, looking up at them.

I got off of Harold and helped him back up to his feet. The lynxes walked over towards us, both surprised to see me.

There was a brief pause before Harold began to explain why they left their hiding spot. Apparently, the artillery was getting on their nerves and they were surprised that I didn't kill then when I had a loaded gun held tight in my hands and only took a couple loathes of bread instead of everything in the pantry and how they spotted me running out front of the church. I then felt my right pants leg being tugged, I looked down and saw the smaller lynx...Anna? yeah, I think it's Anna. Well anyway, she was tugging my pants leg while holding my helmet in her paws.

I quickly touched my head, I didn't notice that my helmet fell off. I did take it and thanked her for giving it back to me. There was another pause before the older lynx said something about heading towards a town that's about a 5 hour walk east of here. I then noticed that Harold was carrying a large trunk, I guess that there's food in there, it also means that he's painting a huge target on his back.

I return my attention back to the lynx and asked why they were heading east, the response that I got was that this town called "Leonbach" and that it's the closes town that has not been involved in the war...yet.

And somehow or another, I ended up joining them on their flight out of town. Me, a random guy who held them hostage for a short duration of time, a random guy with a loaded gun and no idea how to keep it well maintenance, a random guy whose species they never seen before, and they trust someone like me to accompany them on their journey and not kill them? don't know what I did to earn that kind of trust.

In a way to avoid coming face-to-face with any of the armies, Harold suggested that we walk through the woods. I don't know this world as good as they do, so I have no room to object.

We walked out of the alleyways and stayed close to each other as we walked towards a wooded area. Memories of the Vietcong started to replay in my head and how they would lay traps in the jungles. I tried to fight of these bad memories and that I was no longer in Vietnam. Fear...the greatest weapon in an arsenal of weapons in psychological warfare...there IS no better weapon...and I'm afraid of what lays in that forest. But these people trust me...maybe that counts for something. 

I noticed that Anna kept looking at me like I was being weird...if she saw the horrors I saw, lived through those scary moments...she would be in far worst condition than me. I closed my eyes.

Bullets, bodies ripped apart, friends being impaled, torture...I want to forget damn it!, I want to forget looking for limbs, forget the blood stained trees, forget being tortured, forget that god forsaken land! I WANT TO GO HOME!!!

I opened my eyes and noticed that we were now in the woods. I also noticed that I was crying.

The family didn't notice that I was crying. I quickly wiped the tears away and fought back against crying. Got to be tough, got to be strong, like big bro always taught me to be, I can cry some other time, but right now, these people need me to have my head on straight if we are going to reach Leonbach.


	4. Uh...Oh

Well...it's quite, that's good. No soldiers, that's great.

I wonder how long we've been walking, minutes? hours?, don't matter. I could never tell time by just using the sun's position.

Anna fell asleep on her mother's shoulders. Harold's still leading the pack and here I am still in the back.

Harold would flinch whenever there would be a small sound, like me stepping on a leaf and it crunching. Can't say I blame him, for all we know, the soldiers could be in front of us preparing for an ambush or they could be following us or there might not be anyone bothering us at all.

We continued walking until we reached a plain area with a brick road stretching over a hill. A smile started to grow on Harold's face, I guess that means we're close to Leonbach.

We walked up the hill, Harold's smile grew wider and wider after every step. Me?, I have no idea what to expect, but just for everyone's amusement, I'll play along and smile with them. For them, it's a new town and maybe a new life, and they're clearly excited, I can tell. But it is with some confusion that I wonder what will happen to me when we enter the town.

We reached the top of the hill and as if we have been shot by a firing squad, we discovered Leonbach....and it's in ruin. Worst than the town we just left. My fake smile quickly faded, and so did the family of three, the war must have beaten us here...can't say I'm surprised, this is a war after all.

But...there seems to be people moving around, not running around like chickens with their heads cut off but more casual like, as if this is nothing new. I hate to imagine how frequent wars are here in this world...hey wait....why are they all wearing blue?

Harold let out a defeated sigh before turning to face his wife and daughter, "Longcoats" I heard him say to the older lynx. "The people wearing blue are the Longcoats?" I asked, both the boar and lynx shook their heads in agreement. I sighed before turning towards the couple and asking "so what now?". Harold grown and Anna woke up from her snooze.

After a long pause, Harold spoke up "looks like we got no where else to run". His wife looked at him and was about to say something but Harold spoke up again "The only other town is located another 5 hours north of the mountains, KSR's refugee camp is basically a recruitment station with a happy face slapped on a brick wall and a stupid childish slogan underneath it, the Civilized will probably kill us on sight if we go near there church, and trying to reach the Commonfolks base out in the desert is pretty much a suicide mission all on it's own".

"So the best of all possibilities is to stick with the Longcoats?" I asked, slightly concerned. Harold shook his head in agreement, then turned towards me and said "I think now's a good time for us to go our separate ways". I don't know if he was expecting me to protest or something, but I just placed my hands in my pants pockets and shrugged before replying "ok, so...any other nearby towns that I should be aware of?"

The older lynx answered "afraid not". I understand not wanting me to follow them into the town, I mean, like they said "no one knows who's side KSR is on", for all I know, they could be enemies with the Longcoats and I'm the only one here wearing green.

I looked up at the boar and extended my hand before saying "well...take care man". He shook my hand, I followed up by commenting "I'm keeping the bread by the way", the couple laughed. I turned to look at Anna, who was on her mother's shoulders and took my helmet off. I walked over towards the girl and handed my helmet over to her, saying that I don't want it and that she can keep it.

And boy did a smile grew on her face.

I handed Harold my gun and told him to be safe before they decided to walk down the hill and into the town. Alone again...I wonder what will happen if I start walking randomly?, I turned to my right and started walking.

Some time later....

I don't know how long I've been walking, but It's getting dark and I have to have got a good distance from Leonbach.

I found a random tree stump and decided to sit down on it. Wondering about what to do next, I placed my hand on my chin and started to think of possible places to stop and rest as well as places to avoid. Eventually I gave up trying to mentally map out a place that I have no idea of and decide to start eating the bread that I took from the pantry earlier today.

I was half way through eating the bread before I heard something rustling to my left. I looked up and notice that there was skunk wearing a gas mask and armed with a grenade launcher in it's hands...POINTED AT ME!!! I don't think this is a great idea, but I turned around and met a wolf wearing some kind of old time generals uniform.

Yeah....I fucked up.

I turned back around, ready to run, but I then felt someone hit me over the head with something blunt. Next thing I knew, everything went black.

I guess you can say "night, night dumbass".

Everything feels nice though.

Maybe this ain't so bad.

But then the realization that I'm in a world filled with cannibal anthropomorphic animals enters my mind.

I then started to slowly open my eyes to see where I was and if I'm alright.

Apparently I am tied to a stick and is placed upside down...I LOOK LIKE A ROASTED PIG!!! except I'm not roasted. The sound of two people arguing caught my attention.

I turned my head to my left and saw the wolf arguing with a rat....wearing green...wait...can it be? KSR!!!

The wolf broke concentration with the rat and noticed that I was awake and looking right at them. "So you're finally awake" the wolf said, the rat walked over towards me but was stilling talking, well more like arguing with the wolf, "of course he's awake!, now please explain to me why you failed to tie this...thing down properly?"

You are not a good looking person either Bitch.

"What do you mean "failed to tie it down properly"?" the wolf yelled. The rat, who I can clearly see now and is....wearing an eye patch? oh no! is this the Quartermaster?, either way, she shot back "if it were to move it's...foot either left or right, it would be able to break free!, watch!". The rat then pinched my left foot and slightly pulled it, and like she said, the rope that tied my feet to the stick fell off and my feet hit the floor.

The rat then walked over to my hands and followed up "same with the...hands" she then grabbed my left arm and gently pulled it. And just like she said earlier, the rope fell off the stick....and I ended up landing on the wooden floor.

I began to rub my head, wishing that I kept my helmet. The...Quartermaster grabbed my shirt collar and lifted me back up on my feet but continued to face and scold the wolf. I got a feeling that this is going to go on for a long time.

And I was right.

The two kept arguing for god knows how long. Me? I smelled something good being cooked, smells like...STEAK!, these two are so locked onto their argument that they barely noticed me taking my shirt off and following the strong smell of steak.

I walked through some double doors and entered what appeared to be a kitchen. It had one of those dinner windows where the chief or whoever would place the plate of food on and call for the waiter, but most importantly, it had a long wooden table that had plates filled with nothing but meat.

"Oh my god, I think I died and went to heaven" I accidently said out loud. "AH! a man who knows good food when he sees it!" someone yelled rather loudly. I jumped a little when I heard that voice.

A boar came out from a corner near the stove. This ain't right, Harold should be with the Longcoats over at Leonbach, what is he doing here?

The boar gave me an odd but welcoming look before pointing to me, guess he wants to know why I'm shirtless, "madam jackass is holding my shirt hostage and commandant hardass is arguing with her" I spoke. This seems to answer whatever was going through the mind of the boar.

He then walked over to me and asked "now, no offence but, what are you?". It was at this moment that I knew that I had to come up with a cover story, "uh...I'm just some guy who happens to be lost...and a long, long way from home" I answered. It may not be to far from the truth, but it works either way.

"Ok, so you are a random guy who is lost and who just so happens to be standing in a random military base filled with random people, that you have never met before" he exclaimed. "Uh....yeah?" I softly replied, with a tad bit nervousness. He then continued "and while it is nice to know that you are lost, I was more so asking what kind of animal are you".

OH...

Think Raymond, THINK!, "lets just say that my kind are very warlike" I finally spoke after what felt like minutes. I think the boar just gave up pressing those types questions because of how often my eyes would glance over at the food on the table.

"You hungry?" he asked. "Yeeeeeeeessssss sir" I quickly answered, he then took me around the table and started naming off the types of dishes and how they were made.

"Over here we have a porkchop that has been marinated in apple cider and honey" he said with a tone that sounded like a Italian chief makes before they do one of those kisses in the air. He then showed me a surprisingly big BBQ sandwich that look as though it could feed about five people and with a gracious tone said "and here we have a Barbecue I made by using a family dry rub before smoking for about 24 hours, complete with habanero sauce", he then did what I was expecting by kissed the air after finishing his sentence.

I was too enthralled by the sight of food to break eye contact, but I did ask "hey...uh..I did smelled something like steak earlier, you wouldn't happen to be fixing steak by any chance?". He laughed and smacked my back before answering "no, no, that was my chicken you were smelling, family recipe is what gives it that smell".  
"Can I have some chicken?" I responded meekly.  
"Sure! I was going to get offended if you didn't want some!" he replied in a jolly manner.

He then walked over to a rotisserie and pulled out the chicken. The aroma was strong enough to make your mouth water just by one sniff. He then pulled out a sharpened butcher knife from out of a drawer and started to cut the chicken. After a couple of minutes, he handed me a plate with cuts of chicken stacked on top of one another.

"I gave you a few extra because you look like you need some meat on those bones" he confessed. Can't say he's wrong, I do look like a twig, if you saw me, you would think that I was suffering with some kind of disease that affects my weight and keep me skinning but no, It's literally from lack of eating back in the jungle.

I picked up a piece and put it in my mouth and quickly started chewing. My god this is the best chicken I have ever had. "With food this excellent...there's no way this army can be able to afford you" was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I think me saying that pleased the boar.

I ate a couple of more pieces before hearing the wolf yell "WHEN THEN WHY DON'T WE ASK THE CREATURE!". "FINE!" the rat yelled back. There was a short pause, guess they finally figured out that I was no longer in the room with them. Me and the boar looked out the diner's window and watched as they started to look around for any clue as to where I went. kind of funny actually.

The rat turned her head and saw me and the boar looking back at her and the wolf. A unamused expression formed on her face as she stared at me. It was long before the wolf saw me and held a surprised expression.

Me?, I had a piece of chicken already in my mouth when the boar whispered "I would tell you to run, but I don't think you will get very far". Not knowing what to say, I just swallowed the piece of chicken that was in my mouth and began to expect the worst.


	5. Prison Friends

Well...the Quartermaster has me in a headlock on her right side and is dragging me across, what I can understand, is the base. I saw at least three watch towers, a couple of tents, and then there is what appears to be an infirmary. We reach a building that is the farthest from the rest of the other buildings. She used her free hand to open the door to the building and from what I saw inside the building made me realize that this is some kind of prison.

She then yelled "VADIM!", there was a short pause before she again yelled "VADIM" even louder and more angry and harsher sounding. The sound of someone running began and out of the corner on the other side of the small prison came a ferret with a panic look on his face.

He ran over to where we were and started to pant. "Vadim, were you drinking some of the Distillery Brother's brew again?", whether she asked that with a tad bit of concerned or not is up for debate, but either way, it sure got the ferret panicking even more. "No mam, I haven't had any alcohol today" he replied, who does he think he's fooling?

The rat leaned closer and sniffed the air before commenting "your breath says otherwise". Better come up with an explanation and quick buddy boy. The ferret, who was pretty much sweating bullets at this point, was about to say something but the Quartermaster raised her free hand "never mind, just take me to any of the currently empty cells" she instructed.

The ferret quickly scurried off to a cell that was ten feet away from where we were standing. "Drunk soldiers must really be a problem here" I commented, the rat sighed but continued to face straight ahead at the row of cells and replied "you don't know the half of it". The sound of the cell door opening singled for the rat to drag me over there.

She threw me into the cell, well more like shoved me, the cell door closed as I turned around and yell "HEY!". The rat who was about to walk away turned around and replied "yes?", feeling confused, I said "are you going to tell me what I did to be locked up in here?". The quartermaster, with a blank expression, answered "trespassing", she pulled the half eaten loaf of bread from out of her shirt pocket and continued "theft", she then snapped her fingers and a squirrel wearing a green beret hat came running in with a plate of the chicken that I was eating and continued "and the theft of food from a military".

My jaw dropped. How did she know that I took that bread? was I being spied on?

I was about to say something but before I could, she said "did you honestly think no one was watching you back at that restaurant?, we had you pinged when some of our spies spotted you waking up in those woods". I placed my hand on my face getting ready to comment on my carelessness but the lady continued "now, normally I would see it that you would be sent to the kitchen for execution, but there was a couple of things that made me question if that punishment would be really necessary".

"What?" was all that came out of my mouth. She continued "for starters, your species, whatever they are, are not native around these parts. Second, you were wearing green, a color that is normally accosted with my army. Third, you held a family at gun point but you placed the gun to your side and didn't kill them. And finally, not only did you not kill the family, you accompanied them for five hours until you reached a village occupied by Longcoats". Looking back, that sounds about right.

"The question I have for you is simple, why?" she finished. In all honesty, I don't know why, it just happened. I just shrugged and answered "I have no clue", this made the rat sigh, I don't think that was the answer she was hoping for.

"Mind if I ask some questions?" I asked. "What?" she asked back. The first question I asked was "can I have my shirt back?", the Quartermaster pulled out my wrinkled shirt from out of her pants pocket and tossed it into my cell. My second question was "so what's going to happen to me since I'm going to be staying here for who knows how long". This question made her think for a bit.

She rubbed her chin for a moment before answering "well...after you arrived here, some of the doctors who saw you became interested in examining you". "Examine?" I asked with a bit of nervousness. "Yes examine" she continued "they want to know how strong you are, how fast you are, how smart you are, things like that", I let out a soft sigh before she continued "and maybe do a blood test". That made my eyes shoot open.

"Not a fan of blood I take it?" she asked. "Not anymore" I answered. She then stood up straight and cleared her throat before saying "so long as you're here and wearing the KSR color, you will be part of the KSR, which means that you will be taking part in training, drills, and if needs be, battles" she then followed up "and if you become resentful to the good doctors and/or failed to show up to training, drills, and battles, you better be either in the infirmary or dead because if you are not one of those two...I'll be paying you a visit and you will wish that I'm dead before, during, and after I'm through with you". She gave a sly smile before asking "any more questions?".

I gave a nervous smile before answering "no". As she was leaving she said "and if are addressing me, it will start and end with "mam" got that?". "Ok...mam" I painfully replied.

The door slammed shut and the ferret walked over to a desk that was apparently stationed three feet away from the entrance. I let out a deep and troubling sigh before walking over to the far side of the cell and collapsing into a sitting position. I placed both my hands on my face and came to the realization that I just traded one war for another and the worst part is that I got drafted...no...volunteered into the KSR by none other than the bitch that looks like a skinny dude with a feminine voice.

I don't know how many thoughts began to run around in my head, but I can guarantee you that all of them were thoughts of escaping. I looked around my cell, but the only things that are here is a small bed and a bucket that's about two feet away from me. This cell was obviously meant to hold animals that would normally be a third or maybe half my size.

"Well you're in deep shit" came a voice to my left. I got up and walked over to the bars and commented "no shit", I followed up by asking "that bad?". The prisoner, who sounds like a guy responded "oh hell yes, if the training don't kill you, the war will, and if that don't kill you, then I hate to meet the poor soul who thinks they can take you down".

I remember hearing my dad talking about serving in the French Foreign Legion and how some people died during the training.

"All that shit you did to impress "her majesty" and those who were spying on you might have been the biggest mistake you probably ever made, but hey!, it got you out of going to the kitchen" he continued. The voice of a female came from my right said "ah don't worry about it boyo, you impressed the boss which means that others will be keeping an eye on you".

The guy spoke up "meet the residential loon". The woman just replied "fuck you" in a rather normal yet childish tone.

Well...since we're talking, might as well get to know them. "So who are you guys and what are you in for?" I asked with a curious tone.

"Names Stas, my crime?, I tried to flee the country" replied the man.  
"And my names Nadya, and I've been here for as long as I can remember" replied the female

"As long as you can remember?" I spoke with confusion. "Yep, been here for awhile" Nadya answered.

"Explains a lot" commented Stas who followed up "and who are you sir?"

"My names Ray and I have no idea why I'm here" I answered.

"Nothing?, you sure?" the woman asked with a hint of shock.

"Yup" I replied.

"Either you have a god looking out for you, or you got away with something" the man said.

"Nope...nothing" I responded.

"Huh" I heard come from both of them.

There was a long pause before the woman asked "so...have ya ever committed any kind of crime?"

Now I'm literally trying to remember, huh. 

"I do recall stealing some money out of a cash register while my friend was distracting the cashier" I finally answered.

"How much did you take?" the man asked.

"I think a couple hundred" I responded. looking back, I think it was a little more than a couple hundred. "Never counted all of it" I continued.

There was a pause before the woman asked "do you still have the money on you?". "No" I answered.

"Damn" both said loudly.

"HEY! keep it down" came the ferret from near the entrance.

Both hollered back "SHUT THE FUCK UP VADIM!"

"Ok" Vadim mumbled.


	6. Party?

I was laying down on the small bed with my legs hanging off the bottom end with my feet on the floor. Eyes closed, body surprisingly comfortable, same with my head, I wonder what they put into this mattress and pillow to make feel this good. What's even more surprising is the fact that I haven't heard a peep from either Stas or Nadya. Vadim would sometimes walk back and forth down the hall that separated the row of cells, I would hear him scooting out of a chair on one end of the building and then about a minute later the sound of a door opening and closing would be heard.

If the door I keep hearing leads to the restroom, then that guy must have a weak bladder. But if I missed commandant bucktooth entering the building and walking to the other side, and that door leads to her office or bedroom, I hate to imagine what she's got that ferret doing.

Either way, it doesn't concern me. The only thing I'm thinking about right now is why is this bed so comfortable.

'CRASH!'.

Scratch that, WAS comfortable. 

\----

I would say Vadim dropped something in the restroom, but that loud crashing sound came closer...like...right in front of...

I shot up and stared at the cell bars that were across from me and saw someone picking the lock to the call door. Oh shit! I heard of these things, someone breaks into your cell with a shank and killing you while no one comes to help. What do I do?, WHAT DO I DO!?!

The figure opened the cell door and entered. OH GOD! DEATH IS COMING FOR ME!!!.

The figure stopped and whispered "hey Ray, you awake". It sounds like...Nadya!, she's my killer??!

"Ray...hey Ray, you awake?" she asked again. Not knowing what to say, I just answered "yeah...why?". "Me and Stas are going to a party and I figured I ask you if you wanted to go" she said this time not even bothering to whisper. "What?...party?" I asked with a confused look on my face but I know that Nadya can't see it.

"You know, a party party....your kind do know what parties are right?" she responded. If there was a light in here, she would see me shooting her a annoyed look. "Yes, my kind do have parties" I answered, "what kind of party are we talking about though? office party?, kids party?, wild party?" I continued.

Nadya ask "what would qualify as a wild party?".  
"tons of Alcohol, loud music, lots of drugs...I can keep going" I replied.  
"Then yes, it's a wild party" she said.

"HEY! ARE YOU TWO DONE TALKING? WE DON'T HAVE ALL NIGHT!" I heard Stas yell from the entrance, not even attempting to be quite.

I got off the bed and asked "but what about the ferret?, wouldn't he go get queen rat or sound an alarm system or something?". I was actually surprise that Nadya picked me up and placed me over her shoulders before leaving the cell. I then heard Stas say "ABOUT TIME!"

As we got neared the front desk were Vadim is sitting, there was a light emanating from the ceiling that reveled what Nadya and Stas looks like. And to no ones surprise, they are animals wearing clothes.

Nadya, as far as I can tell, looks like a honey badger wearing, what I guess is a brown prison jumpsuit.  
Stas is a squirrel wearing a white t-shirt and overalls with messy hair...fur...yeah.  
And here's Ray, wearing his green shirt and pants.

As Stas opened the door that leads outside, Nadya tells the ferret that we were going to a party. The response? "have fun, just get back to your cell before five o' clock, and bring me back some brew!".   
Now that surprised me.

\----

I think an hour had passed since we left the base and Nadya is still carrying me like a sack of potatoes.

We stop at the entrance to some town that I can't pronounce and Nadya finally decided to put me down...well, it was more like drop me. "WE'RE HERE!" she announced like she wanted the whole town to know. I got off the ground and started brushing myself off before asking "the party? or out of KSR territory?", Stas turned to me and said "no, no. The reason we stopped here is because we need to get you some different clothes".  
"Different clothes?" I repeated with an obvious hint of confusion.  
"Yeah, you see, we are going to a party in Commonfolk territory, and they don't like KSR so we are going to have to get you some new clothes" he followed up.  
"So where are you going to find a clothes store opened at this time of the night?" I asked as I looked around the quite empty streets.

Nadya gave a wicked grin as Stas gave me a sleepy smile.

\----

So...we are now standing in front of someone's house. I was standing behind the squirrel who was standing behind the badger who was knocking on the door, and not lightly.

After a couple of knocks, An odd creature that I have never seen before opens the door. It looked like a pink salamander with a funny looking head tiredly rubbed it's right eye before asking "morning already?". She looked up and squinted at the badger before going "Nadya?! what are you doing here at this time? and by god please don't tell me the military police are on their way to recapture you again".

The badger gave a toothy grin before proudly responding with "Nope!, just came to see what kind of clothes you have for my friend". The pink salamander gave her a confused look and responded "what?". Nadya took a side step and revealed me just standing there like some tree with a confused look on my face.

The salamander's expression shifted from a confusion to surprise. It's not like I haven't seen those before.

She took a step closer and started to examine me. This just became very uncomfortable. She turned her head towards the badger and pointed to me, the only thing Nadya said was "yup, that's my friend, now do you have something that could be in his size?".

The Salamander looked back at me, meanwhile, all I can do is give a confused shrug. "Come on Kotik! there has to be something you ha---", the badger was interrupted by the pink salamander, "I know Nadya!". She turned back to me and asked what my clothes size is. I gave her the size measurements of my clothes and she walked back into the house. After a short couple of minutes of me staring at the starry night and Stas and Nadya joking about the last party they went to, the salamander named Kotik walked back out with a black flannel coat, a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and a belt.

She handed the clothes to me and told me to go change in the house's restroom and gave me directions to where the bathroom was.

\----

After changing into these "in style" clothes, I walked out of the house feeling like I lost some weight. Honestly, these clothes are kind of too big for me, thankfully the belt help keep the pants above my ass. The pink salamander examined me before disappearing into the house for a split second and coming back out and placing a matching black fedora on my head. Nadya whistled at me and Stas gave me a thumbs up before saying "now there's a lady killer".

Kotik the salamander said that she will be keeping my old clothes until we get back from the party. Not going to lie, my clothes do need to be washed. And then, like last time, my prison friend the badger slung me over her shoulder and trotted off with me while my squirrel prison friend followed closely behind.

\----

I don't know how long I was being carried or where we are, but I think we're near the party, I am starting to hear music.

We arrived at some kind of rock wall with a wooden door fixed into it with one of those little windows on it. It was also at this time that the badger put me down. Stas walked up to the door and knocked on it. After a short couple of seconds, the door window flips open and two visible white eyes appeared and the sound of music got louder. "What do you want?" came a low but booming voice, Stas grabbed the straps on his overalls and proudly says "The strongest ale you have, oh! and throw in some chopped up BBQ to go with that, don't want to get wasted on an empty stomach".

"We gave you a password Stas, it's for your own good" the voice from behind the door said.  
"Why would I need a password when you, the bartender, and Hopper know who I am?" he fired back.  
Hopper?, leader of the Commonfolk?, oh shit! what the hell have I gotten myself into? first it was Bucktooth The Pirate and now it's...what did Harold say?, she cut her arm off?...ok, let me restart, first it was Bucktooth The Pirate and now it's The One Arm Bandit!

"And who's your friend Stas?", clearly talking about me and not Nadya. The squirrel, with a relaxed yet silly tone answered "prison pal, new blood, fresh meat, take your pick". I gave the Stas a dirty look, I know whoever the person behind the door saw my face but I also know that my "friend" did not.

I felt like I was being stared down, but I was to busy restraining myself smacking the squirrel on the back of the head. After what felt like hours, the door window closed, I thought Stas's little cheery response got us a silent "no entry" response but to my surprise, the sounds of locks being unlocked started coming from behind the door and then the door opened revealed a bigger than normal lion.

Stas held a warmhearted smile as Nadya held a goofy smile and as I held a what the fuck expression. "HEY KESAR!" our happy-go-luck badger yelled towards the lion, "NADYA IRON-LIVER, IT'S NEVER A DULL MOMENT WHEN YOU SHOW UP" the lion hollered back with a wide smile on his face. Oh great, they know each other, what's next? Stas going to start talking about alcohol?

"So...what kind of brew are ya serving this time?" Stas asked. Called it.

\----

I let out a small inaudible groan before the badger grabbed my arm and practically yanked me into the doorway. The lion named Kesar closed and locked the door again as Nadya dragged me deeper into, what I can tell, a mining tunnel. 

The music got louder and louder as we went deeper into the tunnel until we reached an area where a shit ton of animals were dancing and drinking.

The area was pretty big, I would give a full description of how big it is, but I'll give the short version. Imagine a open-air market with a length of six city blocks and a width of five city blocks. Yeah, that big.

"Well, we're here" announced Nadya to me. I looked around and saw where the music was coming from, it was coming from a band wearing some fancy clothing, I turned to Nadya and asked "so...is there a bar? or something?". Stas pointed towards the other side of the party area and said "all the way over there".

Well....I got brought to a party. No point in going back to the base and have someone ring the alarm and report me escaping. Might as well get shitfaced because for all I know, the next day, week, or however long I'm going to be stuck in this world, is going to suck.


	7. Drunk Fun

I was sitting on one of the stools drinking some kind of brew, must be that Distillery Brothers brew Vadim was drinking earlier today.  
Damn stuff is terrible, I wonder how anyone can drink this stuff and not get sick to their stomach afterwards.

I turned my head to the left and see if there was anything interesting, I saw five squirrels dancing like a bunch of drunks, so there's something to start off with. I turn my head to the right and saw nothing of interest except a painting of a doe with a mustache drawn on it. I turned around and began to scan the area for Stas and Nadya. I mean, they dragged me here, I hope they didn't snuck out so I can get a bounty on my head and they can come back and claim it.

Spotted Nadya dancing with a mouse (which is funny when you see the size difference). Stas on the other hand....you would think someone who looks like Frank Sinatra in squirrel form would be easy to spot but I guess not. And that's when I turned back to the bartender and saw the squirrel man with a smug look on his face. Not going to lie, he damn near gave me a heart attack and made me fall off of the stool that I was sitting on.

"WHAT THE FUCK" I hollered at him, he just snickered and walked off. Now I feel the sudden urge to kill a squirrel.

After I picked myself up, I started to hear someone giggling from somewhere close by. "Did Stas really turned around and came back to laugh at me again?" was the main thought that entered my head. I looked up and saw....a gypsy sitting on a bar stool? Am I really seeing a gypsy right now?

I took a closer look and immediately noticed that the gypsy is a mouse. "Did...did the quartermaster follow us here? and is she...smiling?" was the thought that entered my mind, and like a gust of cold air hitting my back, I suddenly felt chills flowing down my spine.  
The mouse began to twirl around in her chair and as she did, I noticed that she only had one arm. Now, I'm not drunk yet, but I am having a hard time remembering whether or not I have heard of this mouse before....from that town?

"Hopper! quite twirling!, you're going to fall off!" yelled the bartender. Now I remember!, the loon that the boar said chop off her own arm!....should I be concerned?  
"Ha! com on Lediff! another round fer th' guy in th' suite!" She remarked.  
Great, she noticed me.

I started dusting off my suite when I heard her say to me "a toast ta monsieur fancy!", I gave her a confused look like, does she not see that I don't look anything like the other animals here? scratch that. I don't want to know.  
just as I was about to turn around and walk off, I felt a glass cup pressed against my left arm. I turned to see gypsy armless holding up the cup like she was just giving it to me.  
"Com on! hav a drink, ya lok like ya need it".

I gave her a sigh before accepting the drink and downed it. "Wel wel, loks like we hav a quick shot round' here!" she commented.  
"Quick shot?" I asked. "Yea, quick shot, ya down it ratha quickly" she responded.  
Is she drunk? does she not know that I look different? or maybe she's neither and just doesn't care? either way, I'm not looking to make friends, I'm looking for a way to return home.

Only thing I could think to say was "ok" and let that be the be all end all. But unfortunately, she wasn't biting.  
"Ok? na na, we gonna test ya drinkin skills!" she said.  
Fuck.

She grabbed me by my shirt collar and dragged me back over to the bar stools. I just now noticed that women seem to love to drag me around.

Once there, she spoke "Lediff! a strong one fer th' guy in th' suite!".  
The bartender turned around and grabbed a couple of bottles. He then started to pour each of the content from the bottle into a cup before picking the cup up and placing another one over it and then started to shake it like a mad man.

Once that show was over, he then put the cup down and removed the other one and said with an amusing grin "enjoy".  
I looked down at the cup then I turned to face Hopper before going "so what's in it?"  
The response I got back? "a little this, a little that"  
Thank you Hopper.

I took the cup and then looked over at Hopper who was giving me an amused grin. I don't want to drink this.  
But like the idiot that I am, I decided to down the drink in one gulp.

Hopper started jumping up and down like she just one the lottery. I gave her a confused look before asking "what are you so happy about?" She said something but I couldn't make it out.  
Why is everything spinning?  
Why am I getting tired?  
What's going on?  
This isn't good.  
................  
..............  
.............  
............  
.........  
.....  
...  
..  
.  
KO.


End file.
